A blog by a Professional Genealogist who is the Houston County, TN. Archivist working in a county archives everyday

Monday, April 10, 2017

Scrap Paper Found in Archives

How many of you have scrap paper in your genealogical records?

By that I mean, pieces of paper that have notes, numbers or other information jotted down by an ancestor that makes no sense to you, right now, but nevertheless is part of your genealogical records.

Maybe you have receipts, invoices or other scrap documents that you just can't figure out what they mean or how they fit into your family history.

Well, archives have the same type records and genealogists should be seeking them out.

Misc. Receipts, Houston County, TN. Archives

Most archives are known for their well organized and processed records that are in archival boxes and archival file folders. Most of the time, each document has a place in a larger collection of records that the archivist will catalog and index for their patrons.

But did you know that many of our archives have scrap paper that is discovered on a daily basis that doesn't belong to any particular records collection? Those records are kept too but they may be a little harder to locate in an archive.

So, how can you find genealogical scrap paper in archives? Here are some tips:

-Vertical File Collections: The best place to locate scrap paper. Many of the scrap pieces of paper that archives collect can be found in Vertical File Collections. Vertical Files are arranged by surname or subject name. If the scrap piece of paper has a surname on it or is related to a certain subject, they will be filed in Vertical Files.

Vertical File Drawer at Houston County, TN. Archives

-Manuscript Collections: Sometimes archivists will include scrap paper documents in a Manuscript Collection if they can determine the family or organization it belongs to. The scrap paper will be cataloged in the finding aid.

Irish Celebration Manuscript Collection, Houston County, TN. Archives

-Loose Records: If the scrap paper document has to do with a legal matter, like a court case or probate case, these are called "Loose Records". Archivists will put a folder at the beginning of a collection of Loose Records that will say "Misc. Documents" or "Orphan Documents" and place the scrap paper document in that file.

Misc. Documents Folder, Houston County, TN. Archives

Genealogists need to be aware of scrap paper as they do research in archives, historical societies, genealogical societies, libraries and museums. To anyone else these items may mean nothing but to you they may mean everything!

2 comments:

I have a copy of an 1825 will from Morgan County, TN, which is a burned county. It survived in the loose records of Roane County because it was submitted as part of a lawsuit in their court. Boy, am I glad someone decided to sue!

About Me

Melissa Barker is the Houston County, TN. Archivist and a Professional Genealogist, owner of Once Upon A Time Genealogy. She has over 26 years of genealogy research experience and 6 years experience in the Archives/Records Management field. Melissa is currently the Houston County, Tennessee Archivist/Records Manager that she helped to start from scratch in 2010. She established the Once Upon A Time Genealogy business in 2004 and helped clients by researching their histories in the Tennessee and Kentucky areas. She is now speaking, teaching and writing about genealogy research with an emphasis on archives research and records preservation.

Melissa is a 2009 graduate of the ProGen Study Group (an 18-month study of the book Professional Genealogist edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills). She is also a graduate of the Tennessee State Library and Archives Archives Institute, receiving her Certified Archival Records Manager certificate.

Melissa gives back to her local genealogy community by teaching a free genealogy class at her local library each month.

Email Me!

Name

Email
*

Message
*

Disclosure Statement

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.